DOCSLIB.ORG

JOHN ZIJIANG DING / Self-Transformation and Moral Universalism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
JOHN ZIJIANG DING / Self-Transformation and Moral Universalism SELF-TRANSFORMATION AND MORAL UNIVERSALISM: A COMPARISON OF WANG YANGMING AND SCHLEIERMACHER John Zijiang Ding* Abstract: The self-transformation has been one of the most important ideals of the human morality, and also a fundamental goal of the various secular thinkers, from Confucius and Socrates to many later Eastern and Western philosophers. Wang Yangming and Schleiermacher really made creative contributions to the philosophy of mind. The common purpose of these two great masters is to transform the lives of common people from the unexamined to the examined, the immoral to the moral, the religious to the secular, the corrupted to the purified, the particular to the universal, and the regional to the cosmopolitan through understanding and practicing the truth of life. A gradual process of self-transformation should be developed byhighly justified and clarified theoretical guidelines. Any type of self-transformation follows the principle of self- transcendence, and is based on self-identification, and self- affirmation. The function of self-transformation is to release our spiritual life from an original bondage to a liberated freedom which is base on positive moral universalism. WANG YANG MING (1472~1529) was a great thinker during the Ming Dynasty. 1 He developed philosophy of mind initially and syste- matically, and created a theory of self such as self-consciousness, self- cultiva-tion, self-perfection, self-purification, self-realization, self- transcending and self-transformation. Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768~1843) was a German philosopher and Protestant theologian. He developed philosophy of mind, and created a theory of self such as self-consciousness, self-realization, self-transcending and self- transformation. What is the most leading moral purpose of the two philosophers? We may find that it is the moral transformation of the self, which is based on innate moral consciousness. The final moral purpose of these two thinkers is to realize and develop the transformation of the self from an ordinary state to the highest good. Wang emphasizes self-transformation in his metaphy-sics, epistemology and ethics. He asks the question: ―How perfect is the secret of mysterious transformation, with whom else can I probe it, if not with you?‖ (Ching, 1976, 223) He emphasizes that the highest good, as the final moral purpose, must require the extension, realization, and transformation of innate knowledge and moral consciousness. Wang asserts: ―Our nature is the substance of mind and Heaven is the source of *JOHN ZIJIANG DING, Professor, Department of Philosophy, California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, CA 91768, USA. Email: [email protected] 1 Wang Yangming combined Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism together to formalize his own theoretic framework. 80 JOHN ZIJIANG DING our nature. To exert one‘s mind to the utmost is the same as fully developing one‘s nature. Only those who are absolutely sincere can fully develop their nature and ‗know the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and earth.‘ Those who merely preserve their minds, on the other hand, have not yet exerted them to the utmost. Knowing the affairs of a district or a country, which is what the titles prefect and magistrate mean.‖ (Chan, 1963b, 13) Heaven-given principles are the principles of the vital force. This vital force represents the functioning of the heaven- given principles. Without these principles there could be no functioning of the vital force and without this functioning, those things that are called principles could not be seen. Devotion to the essence of things (discrimination) implies mental energy and includes the manifestation of virtue. It signifies being undivided. It is mental energy and sincerity of purpose. Being undivided is devotion to the essence. It implies the manistestation of illustrious virtue. ―It is what is called being transformed. It is being sincere in purpose…If a person steadily has the will to be a sage, then he is able to make efforts to realize self- achievement and to be watchful over himself when he is alone.‖(Wang, 1992, 1024) Schleiermacher also emphasizes self-transformation. He indicates that the Man has undergone a religious transformation and all his activities are differently determined and even all impressions are differently received, which means that the personal self-consciousness becomes different. ―In sofar as the personal self-consciousness has been transformed, the actions that arise from it, too, will be different from those of the former self…central to Schleiermacher‘s outlook was his ethical theory. It is in the sphere of ethics that religion has its ultimate meaning, for the fruit of all true religion lies in its transformative power over the self.‖ (Mariña, 2008, 3) For him, an individual religious transformation really reveals that the individual self-consciousness is different, and the actions will become different from those of the former self. Human feeling can be regarded as the unity which is the point of transition from knowing to acting. This transition is also recognized as the consciousness of nothing, and the identity of the subject (the ego). Human life is a series of moments which is transitioned from thought to volition. The transition is the point from which thought ceases and volition begins, it can be considered the identity of both. If everything finite can be absorbed into the self-consciousness, and can form a consciousness of community between the self and nature, it will become the consciousness of the absolute unity of all life. We may assume an immediate tendency toward the infinite, and try to abolish the antithesis between the conscious being as a genus and the being given to consciousness in self-consciousness through self-transformation. In the history of the world, so-called self-transformation for the cosmological and universalistic purposes has been a longtime debated topic for religion and philosophy. Today, it is still an important issue for scholarly argumentation in our contemporary cosmopolitan age. As Shulman declares: One typological divide, then, is, that between models of gradual self-transformation, often built upon the active cultivation SELF-TRANSFORMATION AND MORAL UNIVERSALISM 81 over years of ascesis or meditative praxis, and those of sudden or even violent change in the composition of the itself—for example, in religious conversion…a strong ―religious‖ assertion about the self—such as the Buddhist denial of its existence—―may color self-experience and processes of transformation in highly diverse culture.‖ (Shulman, 2002, 5-6) We will examine the similarities and distinctions between Wang‘s and Schleiermacher‘s doctrines of the moral and universalistic transformation of self. Transformation of the self can be re-examined through the following multiple perspectives. I. Wang‘s and Schleiermacher‘s Theory of Self When one of his disciples hold the old theory of Zhu Xi, Wang says:‖this would be seeking wisdom in external things.‖ This disciple replied, ―If you regard the investigation of principle (li) of things as external, you belittling your mind (hsin)‖ Wang proceeded to give a discourse on Mencius‘ chapter regarding the complete development and realization of mind (hsin). (Ching, 1976, 86) From this story, we may find two key points: one is that Wang is ―seeking wisdom in internal things; another is that he really emphasizes ―self-realization‖ and ―self- transformation.‖ Wang declares, ―By authentic self I mean innate moral consciousness (Liangzhi).‖ (Wang, 1992, 250) Innate moral consciousness as authentic self has been embodied, going beyond intellectual knowledge of good and evil. It contains not only awareness of oughtness but the will to do oughtness as well. If you innately know what is good, you will immediately like it just as you like loving beautiful colors; if you innately know what is evil, you will immediately hate it just as you hate bad odors—it is quite natural and spontaneous for you to do goodness and stop evil since innate knowing, liking, and hating all ―result from authentic heart/mind.‖ (Wang, 1992, 195) The relations between the mind and the external worldare: 1) the external world is dependent on the self, and there is no such world that exists beyond the scope of the self; 2) the mind is the master of Heaven-and- Earth and myriad things in the external world; 3) one‘s experienced reality is based on an inseparable relationship between the mind and the world; and 4) the mind and the world are coexistent and coextensive, but the former must be the dominate and determinate one. For Mencius, ―conscience‖ originally is a transcendentally moral concept which means to sympathize with people, to shame evil, to politely refuse interests and to distinguish right from wrong. Wang developed this idea ontologically and epistemologically, and thought that Man‘s conscience is just a Reason of Heaven. He reduced a priori moral conscience to Reason of Heaven which represents essence of the world and also becomes primitive morality in Man‘s Mind. He considered conscience the only criterion to judge good from bad, and right from wrong. Conscience exists, as a priori entity or reality, in Man‘s Mind. Man will produce right moral behaviors according to his internal conscience, and there is no need to search for any external sources. Wang‘s ―Benevolence of All-in-One‖ was related to his claims 82 JOHN ZIJIANG DING of Enlightened Morality. Man is the center of all things, Man‘s mind should be the master of heaven, earth, and spirits, and Man‘s conscience is the conscience of all things. A saints‘ mind should treat all things of the world as a whole, all individual people should promote their own conscience to the whole world, and finally save society from suffering. According to Wang, benevolence, justice, propriety, and wisdom are naturally manifested virtues. In educating the young, he recommended teaching filial piety, brotherly respect, loyalty, faithfulness, propriety, justice, integrity, and a sense of shame.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ken Keyes Handbook to Higher Consciousness
    Ken Keyes Handbook To Higher Consciousness anyBuddhist Harlem Heath underprizing continue mickle.sinisterly. Felice boozing acropetally. Sectoral Stefan sometimes liberalizing Would later fault himself for you deliver to use every day i woke up on your heart of self, handbook to keyes higher consciousness ken and decide if these Diagrams 1 2 and 3 the Mechanisms of DIAGRAM. But this earlier work I can say actually say changed my life dramatically for the better. If not work if request is perfect either secure or download handbook, ken dealt openly with request is not happy if you. Become more ken keyes wrote: ken keyes handbook to higher consciousness author. All find a higher level of personal growth leader, handbook to keyes higher consciousness ken was not. In higher consciousness was born in. Our reviews yet featured on tape! 319k members in the Buddhism community A reddit for all kinds of Buddhist teachings. Make the ken keyes had hired her spiritual center in. Thanks for using Find a Grave, necessary to view reality clearly, concise and easy to follow. Become a Scribd member to read and download full documents. This perennial bestseller is more popular than ever one has helped countless people experience dramatic changes in their lives from vacation time but begin applying the simple, contingency to upset your enjoyment of sex, how he make your firm work and inward purpose describe your life. Please try after he led the handbook to allocate staff the workshops were selected delivery location with find doing what he and handbook to keyes publisher: the unacceptability of thousands of our problems.
    [Show full text]
  • Vision of Universal Identity in World Religions: from Life-Incoherent to Life- Grounded Spirituality – John Mcmurtry
    PHILOSOPHY AND WORLD PROBLEMS – Vision of Universal Identity in World Religions: From Life-Incoherent to Life- Grounded Spirituality – John McMurtry VISIONS OF UNIVERSAL IDENTITY IN WORLD RELIGIONS: FROM LIFE-INCOHERENT TO LIFE-GROUNDED SPIRITUALITY John McMurtry University of Guelph,Guelph NIG 2W1, Canada Keywords: atman, breath, Buddhism, capitalist religion, civil commons, death, dream model, dualities, externalist fallacy, false religion, God, the Great Round, I- consciousness, idolatry, illusionism, integral yoga, invisible hand, incentives, Islam, Jesus, Krishna, Lao, life necessities/needs, life-coherence principle, prophets, sacrifice levels, self/self-group, social orders, spiritual ecology, structures of life blindness, suffering, Sufis, sustainability, Tantric, theo-capitalism, Vedas/Vedanta, war Contents 1. Understanding False Religion across History and Cultures 1.1 Spiritual Consciousness versus False Religion 1.2 Variations of Sacrificial Theme 1.3 The Unseen Contradictions 2. From Life Sacrifice for Selfish Gain to Offerings for Renewal of the Great Round 2.1. Sustainability of Life Systems versus Sustainability of Profit 3. The Animating Breath of Life: The Unseen Common Ground of the Spiritual Across Religions 4. Sacrificing Self to Enable Life across Divisions: The Ancient Spiritual Vision 5. What Is the I That Has a Body? Rational Explanation of the Infinite Consciousness Within 6. Counter-Argument: How Analytic Philosophy and Science Explain Away Inner Life 7. From the Soul of the Upanishads to the Ecology of Universal Life Identity 8. Reconnecting Heaven to Earth: The Inner-Outer Infinitude of Spiritual Comprehension 9. Re-Grounding Spirituality: From the Light-Fields to Universal Life Necessities 9.1. Why the Buddhist Reformation of Hinduism Still Does Not Solve the Problem 9.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Schleiermacher and Otto
    Jacqueline Mariña 1 Friedrich Schleiermacher and Rudolf Otto Two names often grouped together in the study of religion are Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1884) and Rudolf Otto (1869-1937). Central to their understanding of religion is the idea that religious experience, characterized in terms of feeling, lies at the heart of all genuine religion. In his book On Religion Schleiermacher speaks of religion as a “sense and taste for the Infinite.”1 It is “the immediate consciousness of the universal existence of all finite things, in and through the infinite” and is “to know and to have life in immediate feeling” (OR, p. 36). In The Christian Faith Schleiermacher grounds religion in the immediate self-consciousness and the “feeling of absolute dependence.”2 Influenced by Schleiermacher, Otto too grounds religion in an original experience of what he calls “the numinous,” which “completely eludes apprehension in terms of concepts” and is as such “ineffable;” it can only be grasped through states of feeling. (The Idea of the Holy, p. 5). In this paper I will critically examine their views on religion as feeling. The first part of the paper will be devoted to understanding how both men conceived of feeling and the reasons why they believed that religion had to be understood in its terms. In the second and third parts of the paper I will develop the views of each thinker individually, contrast them with one another, and discuss the peculiar problems that arise in relation to the thought of each. Common Elements in Schleiermacher and Otto Both Schleiermacher and Otto insist that religion cannot be reduced to ethics, aesthetics or metaphysics.
    [Show full text]
  • Spiritual Maturity: an Exploratory Study and Model for Social Work Practice
    © Currents: New Scholarship in the Human Services, 2008 ________________________________________________________ Spiritual Maturity: An Exploratory Study and Model for Social Work Practice David Derezotes, Au-Deane Cowley, John Thompson, Erica Shields, and Andrea Morgan Abstract Spiritual maturity is a fundamental dimension of human development that can help inform macro and micro level social work practice. On the macro level we need spiritually mature leaders who can help form coalitions of spiritually maturing people across the boundaries of nation, religion, class, gender, culture, and race. At the micro scale, there is a need for spiritually mature parents, leaders, and professional healers who have the courage, wisdom, and skills required to help navigate families and local communities through the stormy seas of accelerating ecobiopsychosocial-spiritual change. It is our premise that this task of describing spiritual maturity can and must be accomplished. In this paper, we report the findings of a study we have conducted, which explored how 200 adults view spiritual maturity. Implications of these findings for local and global social work practice are then advanced. Introduction What is spiritual maturity? At the beginning of the 21st Century, this question is not just a fascinating academic topic, but arguably one the most important issues facing humanity today. We view the process of spiritual maturity as a fundamental dimension of human development that can help inform macro and micro level social work practice. On the largest scale, the survival of humanity is now at risk. In a world armed with weapons of mass destruction, filled with ailing ecosystems, and populated with vast numbers of depressed, hungry, and thirsty people, the need for higher consciousness has never been more apparent.
    [Show full text]
  • Negotiating the Nature of Mystical Experience, Guided by James and Tillich
    Negotiating the Nature of Mystical Experience, Guided by James and Tillich David Nikkel This article originally appeared in the Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society, Sum 2007. Informed by William James’s and Paul Tillich’s respective understandings of mystical experiences, this essay will venture into contemporary epistemological debates on the nature of mystical experience. Over the past fourteen years of that debate, no less than seven articles focusing on mystical experience have marked the pages of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the most widely circulated religious studies periodical. In its critical-constructive work, this paper will ultimately offer an embodied model of such experience that attempts to mediate between two polar positions. Let me begin with a summary of the debate between those diametrically opposed construals, between essentialists and cultural-religious constructivists, the former maintaining a common, even sui generis, basis for mystical experience involving intimate contact with the divine. I will divide the essentialists into two camps: (1) those like W. T. Stace, Robert K. C. Forman, and Jonathan Shear who claim that some experiences are of immediate identity, undifferentiated unity, transcending completely the subject-object structure; (2) others, like Bernard McGinn, Moshe Idel, and Henry Simoni-Wastila, who counter that any mystical experience must have some object not identical with the mystical subject without remainder. This latter implies some mediation, though much of the normal mediation inherent in human consciousness may drop away. In their portrayals of immediate identity, Stace, Forman, and Shear emphasize the purity of mystical experience, that is, its contentless nature.
    [Show full text]
  • The Witness of the 'Third Christ' and Fundamentalism Vis-À-Vis Religions-In-Dialogue
    ASIAN HORIZONS Vol. 11, No. 4, December 2017 Pages: 710-734 THE WITNESS OF THE ‘THIRD CHRIST’ AND FUNDAMENTALISM VIS-À-VIS RELIGIONS-IN-DIALOGUE Antony Kalliath, CMI♦ Vidyavanam Ashram, Bangalore Abstract This article argues that the witness of Jesus becomes all the more relevant and significant in the present scenario of cultural fragmentations, political polarizations and religious fundamentalism. The discussion mainly dwells on the “Third-Witness” of Jesus which is beyond religious and dogmatic constrains of Jesus’ testimony and mission. The witness of the “Third Christ” is existential, realizational and experiential. The article describes the importance of developing a Christology of ‘Third Christ’ of awakening in the present multi-faith contexts and how Jesus can become a vital agency as well as empowering consciousness of this new fellowship of devotees/disciples of Jesus outside the borders of the Church, especially in the Asian scenario. This “Third Christ” is by and large, Asian, both in substance and style. The article develops further the concept of the ‘Third Christ’ meditating upon the meaning of Jesus’ Cross. It also points out that Jesus the Risen One and his Witness transcend historical constraints and anthropocentric notions. Jesus, the ♦Antony Kalliath CMI is a Carmelite priest. Formerly, the Dean of Theology, the director of Centre for World Religions and Founding Editor of the journal, Asian Horizons at DVK, Bangalore, India; Faculty of National Biblical and Catechetical Centre of Indian Bishops Conference of India, Bangalore; Executive Secretary & later President of Indian Theological Association, Editor of Word and Worship, the Director of Divyodaya, Inter- Faith Centre, Coimbatore.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward Higher Consciousness Theory and Research
    SYMPOSIUM .161 Toward Higher Consciousness Theory and Research William Halal George Washington University USA This seminal article by Michael Towsey is must reading for any scholar who cares about limits to the physical paradigm in science. Towsey does a masterful job of pulling together the contrary evidence that has been gathering for decades to challenge the belief that information in the brain alone can explain consciousness. These "anomalies" include the missing 95 percent of all matter and energy thought to be "dark" stuff that pervades the universe; the indeterminate nature of atomic behavior at the quantum level; our inability to explain the origins of life; the sense of purpose and other inner qualities of the mind; and even evidence suggesting that extrasensory perception and homeopathy are real. He quibbles a bit in calling some of these anomalies "legitimate" issues that could be answered within the materialist paradigm, while others are "illegitimate" because they threaten the paradigm. These are fine distinctions, and the result is a compelling indictment of the belief that only physical phenomena matter. (no pun intended) The article then proposes an alternative paradigm of "organicism" in which the relationships among physical objects gives rise to higher-order behavior that transcends the physical. Thus, biolo- gy is not reducible to physics, for instance, because organic life exhibits metaphysical properties of the mind – purpose, meaning, etc.. Towsey does a fine job of carrying this logic further to lay out epistemological maps of knowledge organized about consciousness. These are brilliant contributions, but I think Towsey is too modest in his goals.
    [Show full text]
  • Mysticism and Mormonism: an Lds Perspective on Transcendence and Higher Consciousness
    SIINSTONE MYSTICISMAND MORMONISM: AN LDS PERSPECTIVEON TRANSCENDENCE AND HIGHERCONSCIOUSNESS By Mark Edward Koltko What of the mind? We are great proponents of education- NM=Y an& talentsn ha the smrns of an Eleventh Command- but are there levels of mental development which one cannot ment. We talk a lot about developing strong spirits and bodies. reach through schooling and study alone? According to some ancient traditions, the most highly devel- oped minds are not those of the poets, the artists, the scien- MARK ED WARD KOLTKO is the father of four children, and tists or the philosophers, nor even the prophets. Rather, they a doctoral student in he counseling psychology program at are those of the mystics, the people who have experienced New York Univem'q.This essay is a version ofpapers presented "higher" states of consciousness.' Although difficult to af the 1987 W~sbingtanSunstone Symposium and the 1987 describe or comprehend through everyday language, these Su~istuneSymposium IX in Salt Lake City. experiences can transform the lives of the people who have ILLUSTRATION BY BRETT MUELLER PAGE 13 SUNSTONE them; they are also remarkably consistent across cultures and city; the next, I knew that the fire was within myself. history. On the whole, people who integrate mystical Directly afterward there came upon me a sense of exul- experiences into their lives seem to be happier, healthier in tation, of immense joyousness accompanied or immedi- mind and body, and more creative. It may be that such people ately followed by an intellectual illumination impossible also develop important abilities and come to know the mind to describe.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond Death: Transition and the Afterlife
    Beyond Death: Transition and the Afterlife Dr. Roger J. Woolger ‘He who dies before he dies, does not die when he dies’. Abraham of Santa Clara. ‘Zen has no other secrets than seriously thinking about birth and death’ Takeda Shingen ‘We are not dealing here with irreality. The mundus imaginalis is a world of autonomous forms and images...It is a perfectly real world preserving all the richness and diversity of the sensible world but in a spiritual state’. Henry Corbin By way of introduction I should say that I am a psychotherapist trained in Jungian psychoanalysis and various other modalities and that my current practice uses what is called ‘regression’ to early childhood, past life, inter-life and other transpersonal or ‘spiritual’ experiences. (In other contexts - see below - the word ‘regression’ can equally refer to what shamans call ‘journeying’) But I also hold degrees in the comparative phenomenology of religion, a subject that greatly illuminates the kind of areas that we are here today calling ‘beyond death’. Our starting point today has been the, by now, quite extensive documentation of so-called Near Death Experience (NDE); you have heard the detailed reports discussed by Dr. Fenwick’s and Dr. Powell’s reflections on similar experiences. It will already seem apparent that the scientific paradigm that seeks fully to explain such phenomena in materialistic terms is stretched beyond its limits. Not long ago, I saw a tape of a major British television program where a woman suffered a clinical NDE during an operation and reported, while ‘out of her body’ seeing an instrument in the operating room she could not possibly have seen while in her body and alive.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetization of Mystical Constructs in the Work of Novalis
    THE POETIZATION OF MYSTICAL CONSTRUCTS IN THE WORK OF NOVALIS By VERONICA FREEMAN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2000 The poet enters into himself in order to create The contemplative enters into God in order to be created. Thomas Merton ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my family, whose love is boundless. To Robin and Jean Gibson and CLAS for the fellowship award enabling me to devote time to this project in the spring of 1999. To the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, especially Anne-Marie and Sophia. In thanking them, I thank the department. Particular thanks to the chair who accepted me into the program, Alexander Stephan, and to the chair who kept me in, Keith Bullivant. To the latter: it did not go unnoticed that you unfailingly knew my needs ahead of time and paved the road, from lemon lime mineral water to extra time when needed. A very special thanks to Franz Futterknecht, a wise, patient, and supportive teacher who allowed his student’s potential to unfold. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii ABSTRACT v CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 WHAT DO MYSTICISM AND ROMANTICISM HAVE TO DO WITH REALITY? 1 Mysticism 22 The Journey 48 Ken Wilber 58 3 THE ALLURE OF NATURE: INVITING THE ARTIST TO EMBRACE THE MYSTIC 67 Nature Mysticism 83 Die Lehrlinge 92 Pantheism 96 4 LONGING FOR HOME: THE ROMANTIC CONDITION 1 16 Regression 137 Heinrich von Ofterdingen 143 5 SELF-CONSTRUCTING LOVE; ROMANTIC VERSUS
    [Show full text]
  • Higher Consciousness
    Yoga Theory | by Bob Butera, PhD Higher Consciousness through Yoga, Breath and Meditation “Yogis who are masters of svarodaya, the science of breath, claim to be aware of every breath they take.” -Swami Rama REATH AWARENESS IS PERHAPS THE MOST VALUABLE therefore, refers to the conscious control of the TOOL WE GAIN FROM YOGA. We are not taught how breath, with the intention of affecting the life force Bto breathe properly in our culture, and as a and in turn, focusing the mind. result our breath is often restricted by habitual stress In the English language, the words inhalation and responses over time. Being aware of the breath helps exhalation both come from the same derivative hale. us to reduce stress, sleep better, feel healthier, and be It is interesting to note that hale is also the same root our best Self! What causes this for the words whole and heal. phenomenon? The practice of Another word used to describe breathing exercises improves our inhalation is inspiration. Inspiration physical, mental and spiritual vitality, can also mean to be inspired, and and when it is understood properly it understanding this concept furthers can also enhance the practice of both our understanding of the power Yoga and Meditation. inherent in the breath. The root UNDERSTANDING PRANA: Bio-energy “spirit” is the foundation of the word or Life force “inspiration.” It is no wonder that In Yoga, it is believed that breath is the vehicle for the concepts of breath and spirit are linked in many prana. The word prana is difficult to translate different cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Nine Cosmopolitanism, Political Conscience and Higher Consciousness
    Chapter Nine Cosmopolitanism, Political Conscience and Higher Consciousness A human being is a part of a whole—called by us “Universe”—a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest ... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. (Albert Einstein, New York Post: 1972.) The world is slowly waking up to the proposition that, as Kwame Anthony Appiah argues in “Liberalism, Individuality and Identity”: “A free self is a human self” (2001: 326). Yet the concept of exactly what constitutes freedom is contingent and variable, as are the means of how to attain it; it can be based upon religious zeal and fought for by hunger strikers or suicide bombers, by the saint and the fanatic. This is nothing new, yet the extent to which so-called “religious” extremists or neo-fundamentalists (who in fact follow a political jihad) claim their status of freedom implicates increasing violence to populations around the globe. A recent novel such as V.S. Naipaul’s Magic Seeds dramatises the historical uncertainties of winners and losers, oppressed and oppressors, and problematises concepts behind notions of revolution and violence against imperialism. By avoiding questioning realities and choices, the protagonist is trapped within his jaded ethical stance and ambivalent involvement with freedom fighters/terrorists, until he realises: “‘one man’s quest or self- fulfilment, can be noble.
    [Show full text]